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21 December 2007

Ask Mecha: Subgenre recommendations I need some narrow recommendations. Maybe you also need some.→[More:]

Musical: Soul-jazz, ideally from the '60s and organ-based, with extra percussionists--vibists, congueros, bongoseros, like that. And I already know about that Lonnie Smith album Think!

Literary: Nonfiction comics.

Computer: A good USB (or, come to think of it, an old-style gameport might be even better, as my old laptop has one usb and one gameport) gamepad, to be carried around with my laptop, and used exclusively for emulation--8-bit, 16-bit and MAME.

That's about all I've got offhand. Any ideas? If not, just make something up. Do you want any narrow recommendations? Sure you do.

post by: box at: 09:05 | 18 comments

Well, not organ based, but 60s soul jazz doesn't get any better than Roy Ayers - Stoned Soul Picnic. Slightly left-field, but if you're looking for that groovy / sleazy sort of sound, then you might enjoy Ennio Morricone's skin-flick soundtracks, compiled in a series called Mondo Morricone.

posted by bifter 21 December | 09:16

Mulatu Astatke

You might know him from the soundtrack to Broken Flowers.

posted by chuckdarwin 21 December | 09:42

as far as gamepads go, i have one of these. it's relatively cheap, it fits in my backpack easily, and the dual joystick thing works especially well with games like robotron: 2084, crazy climber and smash tv. (i had to switch back to a gamepad recently as my left ctrl key is now officially broken.)

posted by syntax 21 December | 10:18

This is awesome--thanks, everybody.

I like Roy Ayers okay, but I mostly know about his '70s, Ubiquity, RAMP, etc. stuff. I'll look into his older output.

Would I be better off buying the Broken Flowers soundtrack, or the Ethiopiques v. 4 compilation?

Great point about the dual-joystick thing. Do you also use the analog stick for trackball or steering wheel or other weird-input-device games? How's it work?

This narrow-recommendation thing is working out great.

posted by box 21 December | 10:45

yes

posted by Hellbient 21 December | 11:13

There is a recently-released "The Very Best of Ethiopiques" meta-compilation. I bought it last week, and like it fine. It's kind of heavy on the instrumentals though, not sure if that would be your preference or not.

posted by bifter 21 December | 11:14

Nonfiction comics: Harvey Pekar, Marjane Satrapi and Alison Bechdel's Fun Home.

posted by brujita 21 December | 11:19

And I know it's not at all what you asked for, but for some reason the strangeness that is Drumo Vocalo came to mind. It's at least got the bongo bit in there.

posted by Hellbient 21 December | 11:25

Ooh, thanks, hellbient.

Fun Home is, indeed, really really good--one of my favorites. Have you seen the Persepolis movie, brujita?

posted by box 21 December | 11:28

Upon further reflection, it looks like, rather than having not been released yet in my city, it hasn't been released yet in the US.

posted by box 21 December | 11:29

For comics, safe to assume you've read Maus and Persepolis?

posted by kellydamnit 21 December | 11:41

I have, and thanks for the recommendation. I like Satrapi's drawings much better than I do Spiegelman's, but both books are, indeed, quite good.

posted by box 21 December | 11:47

Haven't heard it yet, but a trusted friend just sent me PROIBIDÃO C.V: Forbidden Gang Funk
From Rio de Janeiro.

posted by Hellbient 21 December | 12:34

Sorta '60s, kinda British soul, big ol' B3 and Leslies always: have you heard jazz rocker Brian Auger's Oblivion Express?

posted by paulsc 21 December | 13:06

A girl I dated a dozen years ago was a big fan, but I've hardly thought of either one of 'em since (she was also a big fan of The Eagles and The Doors, and I may have let my feelings about those groups color my view of her other musical tastes). I'll check Auger out again.

posted by box 21 December | 13:28

Organ based, but contemporary rather than ’60s, and more jazz than soul: Date Course Pentagon Royal Garden. A couple of sample tracks: Structure V - la structure du port et des lieux de plaisir from their 2003 CD Structure et Force, and Washington DC, from 2007’s Franz Kafka’s AMERIKA.

posted by misteraitch 21 December | 16:49

You probably know the comics journalism of Joe Sacco, like Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde, eh? He's been interviewed everywhere from the Village Voice to Salon to the Guardian and the BBC, and reviewed in papers like the NYT.

And do you read our own Interrobang's comics? Great stuff.

posted by shane 21 December | 20:04

For the comics, try the graphic novel, The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam

posted by drezdn 21 December | 20:59

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